Concepts for changes along US 441/Pine Avenue corridor

Monday

Jan 21, 2013 at 4:53 PM

The plan to reduce U.S. 441/Pine Avenue from six lanes and a center turning lane to four lanes seems to have waned.

By Susan Latham CarrStaff writer

Like many a well-intentioned New Year's resolution, the road "diet" to reduce U.S. 441/Pine Avenue from six lanes and a center turning lane to four lanes seems to have waned.The Florida Department of Transportation, which has been working on a corridor study of Pine Avenue between County Road 475, near the Pizza Hut, and Northwest Second Street at the base of the overpass, will display some concepts that resulted from the study at two meetings this week in hopes of getting public input. But do not look for a road diet. It is not there.The city of Ocala had hoped the unattractive, under-utilized roadway could be reconfigured to create an attractive, pedestrian-friendly crossing that would link west Ocala with downtown, adding credence to the city's 2035 visioning plan to reunite the two communities that have been divided since the roadway was expanded to six lanes.FDOT has focused, instead, on making changes to the corridor's three major intersections, CR 464, more commonly known as 17th Street; State Road 200; and State Road 40, also called Silver Springs Boulevard.For instance, instead of having one turning lane, one proposal is for two turning lanes from Pine Avenue's northbound lane turning west onto 17th Street, which appears to be more vehicle friendly than pedestrian friendly. Pedestrians on the west side of Pine, who are crossing 17th Street, would have to contend with two lanes of turning traffic instead of one.When the idea for a road diet was proposed at a public meeting in July, there were people who objected to the change."They didn't seem to be particularly interested in the road diet," said Greg Slay, director of the Ocala/Marion County Transportation Planning Organization.He said there was about a 60/40 split of those who attended.The public will get to look at FDOT's concepts for the roadway by going to one of the two public meetings Wednesday, one at 3 p.m. and the other at 5:30 p.m. at the Ocala Police Department Community Room, 402 S. Pine Ave."We are just showing what some of the concepts are," Slay said.Slay said there are some allowances for medians."These are areas we have identified problems with traffic crashes," he said.Presumably, pedestrians could use the medians as small islands of refuge as they cross six lanes of traffic to or from downtown.Asked if there would be any improvements to the road's appearance, Slay said, "There are things for landscaping and things like that, nothing extensive as a road diet. I don't think there is support for something like that at this point."Slay said he included the road diet in the corridor study because it was part of the city's 2035 vision to connect east and west Ocala.He said the median at Broadway, which, when installed, was seen as a barrier by city officials who are trying to attract more people downtown, was installed by the state as a result of serious crashes at that site. He said there were 17 serious crashes and one fatality at Broadway and Pine in a 12-month period.Slay said there would be more emphasis on crossing at Broadway south of SR 40 and also on Northwest Second Street north of SR 40. He said when one considers where people live, those two crossings are better "gateways" and are better connected to the neighborhoods."Most folks are not going to walk over the bridge (on SR 40) to walk downtown," Slay said.The next step in the process is to get pieces of the project on the state's priority list for funding for design, Slay said.Contact Susan Latham Carr at 867-4156 or susan.carr@starbanner.com.